fit as a fiddle
English
editEtymology
editUnknown; possibly alliterative.
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /ˈfɪt æz ə ˈfɪdl̩/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Hyphenation: fit as a fid‧dle
Adjective
editfit as a fiddle (not comparable)
- (simile, colloquial) Perfectly fit; in excellent condition or health.
- 1598, [William Haughton], English-men for My Money: Or, a Pleasant Comedy, Called, A Woman will Haue Her Will[1], London: Imprinted at London by W[illiam] White, dwelling in Cow-lane, published 1616, →OCLC:
- This is excellent ynfayth, as fit as a Fiddle: […]
- 1915 September 3, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter 2, in Something New (Project Gutenberg; EBook #2042)[2], New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, published 6 September 2008 (Project Gutenberg version), →OCLC:
- You wake up, feeling as fit as a fiddle; you look at the window and see the sun, and thank Heaven for a fine day.
- 2008 April 10, Alexander Jung, Christoph Pauly, “Crashing the party of Icelandic prosperity”, in Spiegel Online[3], archived from the original on 8 January 2015:
- Icelanders will assure you that their economy is really as fit as a fiddle, and it is true that the country does produce a tidy budget surplus.
Synonyms
edit- fit as a butcher's dog
- fit as a flea
- in fine fettle
- right as a trivet
- sound as a bell
- sound in wind and limb
Translations
editperfectly fit
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References
edit- Colin McIntosh, editor (2013), “be (as) fit as a fiddle”, in Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 4th edition, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, retrieved 14 February 2017, reproduced in the Cambridge English Dictionary website, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Gary Martin (1997–) “As fit as a fiddle”, in The Phrase Finder, retrieved 14 February 2017.